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Maxine Brown 27.4.1931-21.1.2019
Maxine Brown (April 27, 1931-January 21, 2019) was an American country music singer who was originally a member of the successful 1950s trio the Browns, before a brief solo career.
Press Reports
Nash Country Daily | by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | January 22, 2019
Country Music Hall of Fame Member Maxine Brown of The Browns Has Died
Maxine Brown Russell, one-third of the Country Music Hall of Fame group The Browns, died on Jan. 21 from complications of heart and kidney disease. Maxine was 87 years old.
Maxine and brother Jim Ed Brown performed together in the early 1950s. After younger sister Bonnie Brown graduated from high school, the siblings formed a trio. The Browns performed on The Louisiana Hayride and found chart success with “I Take the Chance” and “I Heard the Bluebirds Sing.” In 1959, the trio recorded one of the biggest hits of the era with “The Three Bells,” which topped Billboard‘s Country charts and led to appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show.
As the Browns helped define the Nashville sounds of the ’50s and ’60s, the hits continued with “Scarlet Ribbons,” “The Old Lamplighter” and “Then I’ll Stop Loving You.” The Brown were invited to become Grand Ole Opry members in 1963.
In 1967, Bonnie and Maxine decided to leave the trio to spend more time with their families, and Jim Ed embarked on a very successful solo career.
In 2015, The Browns were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Maxine was preceded in death by her parents, Floyd and Birdie Brown, sisters Bonnie Ring and Norma Sullivan, brothers Jim Ed Brown and Raymond Brown, and her son, Tommy H. Russell, Jr. She is survived by two children, Jimmy Russell (Mary) and Alicia Short (Curtis), six grandchildren (Caitlin, Daniel, Meredith, Eva, Patrick, and Katherine), and two great-grandchildren (Atlas and Aina).
Background information From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biography
Brown was born in Campti, Louisiana to Floyd and Birdie Brown. While she was still a toddler, her family moved to a farm near Sparkman, Arkansas. Encouraged by her parents, she began singing and performing at local venues. Brown signed a recording contract in 1954 with RCA Records as half of a duo with younger brother Jim Ed Brown. Their humorous song "Looking Back to See" was a #8 hit during the summer of 1954.
In 1955, younger sister Bonnie Brown joined Maxine and Jim Ed to create the trio group, the Browns. They scored their biggest hit when their folkpop single "The Three Bells" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 pop and country charts in 1959. In December of that same year, "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" proved to be a successful follow up single, reaching #7 on the country chart and #13 on the Hot 100. The Browns' next hit was "The Old Lamplighter" in 1960.
Another highlight for the group came in 1963, when they were inducted into Nashville's Grand Ole Opry. The Browns disbanded in 1967.
Later life and death
Brown had a brief solo career during the late 1960s, releasing a single and an album for Chart Records titled "Sugar Cane County".
Her autobiography, "Looking Back to See", was published in 2005 by The University of Arkansas Press.
It delivered an account of the American country music business in the 1950s and 1960s.
She died on January 21, 2019 at the age of 87 from complications of heart and kidney disease.
*Immanuel Kant
Created: 20190123
Updated: 20200313
Wikipedia: This page was last edited on 22 January 2019, at 04:57 (UTC).